Did superheroes kill all the other movies?

No major movie studio would make an Academy Award-winning movie like Rain Man today, says Wall Street Journal reporter Ben Fritz: "It's an original idea. It's driven by movie stars. It's a domestic film." In his new book, “The Big Picture: The Fight for the Future of Movies,” Fritz writes about the rise of the franchise film and the decline of the studios that don't produce them. Sony, for example, was "very successful at the game of dramas featuring movie stars like Will Smith and Adam Sandler" but failed to create successful franchises, Fritz says. So what works? Movies that are good business around the world, like Star Wars, Marvel and Pixar franchises — all of which are owned by Disney. He spoke to Marketplace host Kai Ryssdal about his new book.

Read an excerpt from his book here, and click the audio player above to hear the full interview.

Excerpted from “The Big Picture: The Fight for the Future of Movies” by Ben Fritz. Copyright

Kai Ryssdal is the host and senior editor of Marketplace, the most widely heard program on business and the economy — radio or television, commercial or public broadcasting — in the country. In addition, he joins forces with Marketplace Tech’s Molly Wood to connect the dots on the economy,...